India, US set for a confrontation

THE ASIAN AGE , Friday, May 07, 2010
Correspondent : Rashme Sehgal
India and the US are set on a confrontation on the crucial issue of climate change. Both nations have made their respective submissions to UNFCC’s ad hoc working group on Long Term Commitment to Action (AWG LCA) but it has become obvious that the bonhomie developed in Copenhagen has become a thing of the past.

India has hardened its stance on key climate issues and has categorically stated that the Copenhagen accord cannot be treated as the basis of a negotiation text unless adopted by all member nations.

By contrast, the United States wants the Copenhagen accord to be the cornerstone around which talk’s progress. The US submission states that while Copenhagen conference did not adopt the accord, “A large majority of convention parties have signed it making its substantive outcomes unarguably relevant to further progress under the convention.”

Minister of forest and environment Jairam Ramesh in a recent MEF meeting spelled out that “Equity must form the cornerstone of any agreement,” going on to add that, “Restricting temperature to 2ºC by 2050 must be firmly embedded in an equitable access to atmospheric space”.

India’s submission to the UNFCC is a clear rebuttal to the US policy with its emphasis that per capita emissions comprise the cornerstone for the sharing of carbon space. It also emphasized that all future talks on climate must be based on the Kyoto Protocol and the demand for a global cap on emissions.

The US submission attempts to move away from the Kyoto Protocol. Rather, it cleverly states, “This would generally not be constructive in terms of making progress to import the LCA mitigation provisions, which were a source of widespread disagreement and stalemate in COP 15.”

The US and India made their submission to the chair of AWG-LCA Ms Margaret Mukahanana Sangarwe of Zimbabwe who will draw on views of member nations in order to prepare a text for consideration in Bonn in June.

CSE director Sunita Narain pointed out that it is obvious from the US position, “That till they get the right language of compliance (from developing nations), not a single paisa will be made available from the global climate change fund which is supposed to have a kitty of $10 billion.”

 
SOURCE : http://www.asianage.com/india/india-us-set-confrontation-845
 


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